11/19/2010

Parker/Spitzer - The New Dumb and Dumber

On Thursday's Parker-Spitzer, CNN's Kathleen Parker bizarrely and inaccurately claimed that Alexander Hamilton came to the United States illegally and drafted the Constitution: "Let's remember...a lot of Americans did come through the back door such as Alexander Hamilton. He got off the boat from the West Indies, and all he did was write the Constitution and become the first Secretary of the Treasury."

Parker raised this false history during a discussion of Pedro Ramirez, Fresno State University's student body president, who was outed as an illegal immigrant by a student newspaper. After playing clips from Ramirez and his opponent during the student election, who is also the president of the Fresno State College Republicans, the CNN host displayed sympathy for the college student: "This is kind of a classic though, isn't it, really? I mean, you've the college Republican versus the illegal immigrant, and it's kind of a classic clash, you know, that corresponds to this immigration debate we're having in this country. And clearly, when you put a human face on the illegal immigrant, it's a different story. I mean, nobody wants to punish this young 22-year-old."

Eliot Spitzer, Parker's co-host, interjected that "It's more than just complicated. Whether the number is 11 or 12 million undocumented individuals here in this nation which is- you know, the term that I think is preferred these days, so many of them, like this kid, were here because their parents came in with them."

The pseudo-conservative replied with her claim about the Founding Father, and also named a more recent celebrity/politician as an illegal immigrant: